A policing group which believes that the power of prayer can catch criminals and keep officers safe from harm has been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Home Office

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  A Christian policing group which believes that the power of prayer can catch criminals and keep officers safe from harm has been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Home Office to widen its involvement with local church groups.

  The Christian Police Association (CPA) wants members of the public to “adopt a cop” by praying for the safety of local officers as they ply their beats. Subjects that the association says congregations should be encouraged to pray for include “helping officers make on-the-spot decisions” and encouraging them to “resist corruption”.

  The nationwide organisation, which boasts 2,000 members, claims that there is “circumstantial evidence” to suggest that regular prayer sessions can help reduce crime rates and encourage criminals to make a new start to their lives.

  This week they are launching a new initiative called “CoAct”, which is partly funded by a £10,000 Home Office grant, to improve links between local church groups and police officers and encourage congregations to act as “peacemakers” in areas where gang violence and antisocial behaviour is high.

  Don Axcell, a retired Metropolitan Police sergeant who heads the CPA, told Police Review: “We want people to pray for the police, for example in solving crimes or protecting officers. We want to see the Christian community fully interacting with the service. I think it will break down barriers.”

  Mr Axcell said two incidents from his own career had made him believe that prayer really could help apprehend suspects. “One officer was investigating an incident but had not been able to apprehend a suspect,” he said. “He encouraged a church to pray for him and within days a suspect had been charged. Another officer encouraged churches to pray about domestic burglary and over the year it came down by 30 per cent. We do not discount good police work, which is why we call it circumstantial evidence.”

  Les Isaacs, the founder of the influential Street Pastors movement, which patrols more than 70 cities across the country helping drunken revellers and diffusing gang tensions, says church groups already play a strong role in tackling antisocial behaviour.

  “The approach has to be both pragmatic and spiritual,” he said. “Prayer makes a tangible difference, we see it every day. If you pray for the well-being of the community around you will see people physically become less aggressive.”

  But Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said the Government should not be funding religious-oriented police organisations which he believes have helped factionalise officers into competing camps.

  “I have no objection to a local congregation praying for their community but the Government should not be funding these sorts of sectarian police groups,” he said. “If there’s one institution that should be avowedly secular, it is the police force. Yet we have Christian, Muslim and Jewish police associations all battling for greater recognition and government funding.”

  Matt Baggott, chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and president of the Christian Police Association, said CoAct would be a “great way of giving police officers the support, care and encouragement that they need and value”.

  A Home Office spokesman added: “We have given the Christian Police Association a one-off grant of £10,000 to support its ongoing work to improve community safety, tackle antisocial behaviour and reduce violence.”

  via independent.co.uk

Unleashing Gratitude

eric posted on November 26, 2009

He had incredible potential, a keen intellect, and a passionate heart for the things of God. But as substantial as his gifting was, it was equally matched by his brokenness. I was more than happy to invest in his life, and certainly his promise and eagerness were motivation enough. I was mentoring a small community while working a full-time job and trying to be faithful as a good husband and father of two. It caught me by surprise the day he sat me down and reprimanded me. It was no small rebuke. He told me I had let him down. I had not followed through on my commitment. I was not giving him enough time and investment.

I considered arguing with him, but experience reminded me it would be no use. So I just took him home. We sat in the living room with my wife, Kim, who has a wonderful way of cutting through everything and just getting at the truth. I only asked her one question. “Honey, who do I spend more time with, you or him?”

I’ll never forget Kim’s response. “Are you kidding? I thought you were married to him.” The conversation was over. The point I couldn’t make was made with emphasis.

When we lack wholeness, our ability to perceive the investment of others is damaged. Our perception is that we’re just not getting what we need. The truth is, nothing sticks because our heart lacks the proper texture for the investment to mature. This is the mystery of gratitude. Without it, all the investment in the world will not result in wholeness. Thankfully, this particular individual had a dramatic change of heart. A decade later it’s my privilege to know him and I am always amazed at the level of his servanthood. It certainly wasn’t the result of learning something new.

Sometimes the simple truth is the most profound. That we will never become whole without gratefulness probably doesn’t seem complex enough to be true. For whatever it’s worth, I have always found the greatest mysteries of life to be hidden in simplicity. The quest for nobility is a journey that takes us from gratitude to wholeness to generosity. There is no other path that leads us to the freedom that makes us complete. There is no way to circumvent the process. It all begins here. And as we will discover, it also ends here. It is a life of gratitude that makes us whole, overwhelms us with love, and moves us to live generous lives.

No truth, no matter how profound, will find its way into a heart that is absent of gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving.

An exerpt taken from Erwin McManus’ Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul

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Here’s the very first song from the very first gig of my on-going house concert world tour which ‘glamorously’ started in Randalstown, Co. Antrim here in Northern Ireland. The 2009 leg went from there to the US (Ohio, Pennsylvania, California & Washington) and then back to NI (Bangor, Kilkeel, Coleraine & Comber).

The house concert tour has been a most excellent adventure. To simply hit the road with a ‘have-guitar-will-travel’ sense of not knowing what’s around the next corner, who you’re going to meet, where you’re going to stay has been invigorating.

Every single gig that I did was arranged by folks who I had never met outside of cyberspace – yet they were willing to put together an event invite their friends and see where it goes.

If you’re wondering what a house concert is, it’s quite simply a live music performance in your home. You invite your friends and acquaintances over for a live show. Each of your friends donates a few bucks/pounds/euros (depends where you are) for the privilege. You then get live music in your home.

Your friends get a unique, personalized, relaxed environment to experience great music.

This year’s tour will head to the South of Ireland, back to the US and possibly Australia.

If you fancy hosting a house concert check out http://www.andyrogersmusic.com/house-concerts/ for all the details.

I finally had the privilege of viewing James Cameron’s new file, Avatar, last evening. As usual, I had on my “art delivers worldview” glasses, and a 3D glasses, in order to take in the whole experience as both and entertaining and educational enterprise.

I was not disappointed by the visuals, nor was I appalled by the story line – overused as it is. For me, the worldview blends of biological deification (a leaning I can appreciate because of my own sense of growing wonder at the biological world), voodoo-meets-mother earth, and sacrificial spirituality all rumbled together throughout the film.

I welcomed many of the elements of the story as responses to modernist culture, with it’s deification of all things machine. The emphasis on the biological world, and the mysteries still remnant in its intricate weavings, is always a delight to me.

As for me, the Christian Story that I embrace as the human Story is big enough, grand enough, expansive enough to talk about a movie like this with nuance. However, I know many Christians who swing two ways – one recoiling in conservatism at blatant spiritual themes that contradict what I might suggested is a small vision of our faith, and the other who simply buys the art of popular culture like a baby chick being fed by mother Hollywood – and quietly integrates spiritualist themes into a non-discerning faith.

We must look for the beauty in the worldview and delivery mechanism of every piece of art, but then also exercise discernment as to what ideas it is artfully introducing into the psyches of the age.

I enjoyed the film, but would be hesitant to let someone under 16 see it due to the lack of strong critical thinking skills related to the worldview portion it pumps their way. Again, I’m an advocate of discussion after a child has seen a film.

Cheers to due diligence, and the long haul effort toward great film making that went into the production.

Dan Wilt’s review of Avatar from a worldview perspective – I mostly concur!

Here’s another surplus stock music gear item I have coming to auction at ebay. It’s a mint condition Roland RD 600 Piano Keyboard (pre RD700 model).

You can check out the details at my ebay account here http://www.Liquid8Music.com

“Finding Spirituality at Home,” From Lisa Randall’s “House of Worship” column in Newsweek (1.11.10)

Seven percent of Americans say they “attend religious services in someone’s home.” This surprising little fact was buried in a recent survey ..

..The first Christian church services were held in people’s homes, of course, and living-room prayer meetings have long been staples of Western history and literature. More recently, though, American worship has become industrialized. In the 1980s, the mega-church—with its Wal-Mart approach to spirituality—became a fixture of the suburban landscape, and the megapastor a Christian CEO. Now, says David Kinnaman, president of the Barna research group, many Christians are expressing “disappointment that the congregational models have become so consumeristic.” “House church”—also called home church, simple church, or organic church—is “the new expression of hippie Christianity,” says Kinnaman. If the megachurch is Budweiser, the house church is a microbrew.

..The first Christian church services were held in people’s homes, of course, and living-room prayer meetings have long been staples of Western history and literature. More recently, though, American worship has become industrialized. In the 1980s, the mega-church—with its Wal-Mart approach to spirituality—became a fixture of the suburban landscape, and the megapastor a Christian CEO. Now, says David Kinnaman, president of the Barna research group, many Christians are expressing “disappointment that the congregational models have become so consumeristic.” “House church”—also called home church, simple church, or organic church—is “the new expression of hippie Christianity,” says Kinnaman. If the megachurch is Budweiser, the house church is a microbrew.

…What’s happening to church has already happened not just to beer, but to food, magazines, and music. As people reject a one-size-fits-all approach, they’re yearning for a church that’s more homemade.

via davewainscott.blogspot.com

This probably explains why the response to the house concert tour (www.AndyRogersMusic.com/house-concerts) have been so encouraging.

It’s like getting back to the original DNA of ‘the church’.